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| When William 'Bill' Chedham lay down his tools at the end of his final day of work, closed the door and walked away from Chedham's Yard he left behind him a perfectly preserved portrait of the life and working conditions of a professional wheelwright and blacksmith. |  Chedham's Yard, Wellesbourne
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That was back in the 1970s and to this day the workshop, benches and equipment with which Bill plied his trade have remained untouched and undisturbed. In one sense the yard represents the everyday clutter of one man's working life. But in the paraphernalia of the wheelwright and blacksmith's trade that he left behind – the treadle operated grindstones and lathes, a tyring plate – and the hand powered bellows, tool rack clamps and hearths. He also left a vivid record of the instruments and techniques that may very soon pass out of living memory.
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Chedham's Yard dates from the early to mid-19th century a time when the blacksmith and wheelwright enjoyed a special status within a village. He was the craftsman who kept the horses and wagons of the local farmers and gentry in working order. The workshops these craftsmen occupied were humble. Chedham's Yard is typical of this and as such is a unique and intact example of the two crafts contained within a single site.
Chedham's Yard remained within the same family for over a hundred years. It was bought in 1992 by Wellesbourne Parish Council on the basis that it should be preserved as found. While not currently listed, English Heritage says:
'Although the building is conventional and unassuming in its construction and form, it is this quality that makes it archetypal of workshop provision in rural industries in the 19th century.'
Due to problems with the foundations, the buildings are considered too unstable for public access. The contents of the yard are currently in the process of being catalogued. It is hoped that Chedham's Yard, upon restoration, could be developed as a working museum with a working blacksmith employed to operate from the site, to provide training and act as an educational resource for local schools.
At the heart of the ancient rural landscape of the Midlands is Wellesbourne, a village of approximately 6,500people set six miles west of Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Wellesbourne is first mentioned in historical records as Welesburnan in 840 AD and later as Waleborne in the Domesday Book. The village is an amalgamation of Wellesbourne Mountford and Wellesbourne Hastings, which, while sharing a church, for many years retained a separate identity. During the Industrial Revolution Wellesbourne suffered a collapse in population. Since the mid 20th century the village population has increased and Wellesbourne now enjoys a new lease of life as a commuter settlement.
This article can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/restoration/2006/mid_chedhams_yard_01.shtml
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